Recipe for a Happy Classroom

Last year, my school invited Eduardo Briceño to talk to us about the importance of having a growth mindset, a concept from "The Power of Belief - Mindset and Success" and this book by Carol Dweck (affiliate link)! He basically asserts that there are two types of people: those who think intelligence and skills are fixed/unchanging and others who believe they are able to be developed/honed. In his speech and his book, he discusses one thing that we all (likely) have done: tell a student how…

How To Teach A 6-Year-Old To Tie Shoes In 5 Minutes This is amazing, wish I'd know this before. This is crazy. I just tried it. I've been sitting here tying my shoe over and over in disbelief.

Sometimes it is the students who are bored and sometimes it is the instructor who is boring. Engaged students pay attention. This work by Mia MacMeekin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribut…

Brain breaks have been all the rage for quite some time now. We've learned that regularly incorporating short movement activities into the instructional day not only allows children to get their 'wiggles' out, but energizes them and increases their ability to focus on the next learning activity as well. Let's utilize the technology we have to give the kids a healthy dose of pop culture and silliness all mixed into one. So, smack up one of these short clips on your SMART Board or Promethean…

All over Pinterest I have been seeing this… I have seen it with fancy letters from fun machines I can’t afford, painted, stamped. Basically, you name it and I have seen it. I love the overall idea but one line popped out at me that I hate: WE DO LOTS OF TESTS All I can …

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The teachers at Hillside School were overwhelmed this week - in a good way! Each day, we arrived at school to find some sort of special treat presented by the PTO in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week. We are so blessed and grateful. Here are the "treats" given to use each day: Monday - Flowers on our doors with each petal containing a special "Thank you" from different students Tuesday - a Flash Drive on our desk with a special note, along with muffins, pastries, bagels, m&ms in the…

Last year around this time, I shared all about my absolute favorite stress-free morning work alternative: morning tubs. Since that last blog post, I’ve received hundreds of questions in my inbox about morning tubs and >

So this is the final part in this not-so-mini-series! If you missed any of the posts, click below to go back: My Math Block Mini-Series {Part 1} My Math Block Mini-Series {Part 2} My Math Block Mini-Series {Part 3} My Math Block Mini-Series {Part 4} My Math Block Mini-Series {Part 5} So... ...you have learned about Number of the Day... ...Mystery Number, and calendar time. I know what you're wondering--what else are you doing?? Well, I will tell you, my friends! Math Lesson/Stations At the…

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a free 2015 calendar and planner download for different sizes, and much more.

popsicle art: hmm....what if kids picked their favorite quote to do? Or what if I said what makes a good student and they had to put one key term/phrase and then decorate like, studious or good attendance, and then we kept it up in a frame all semester long? good first day activity. I'm getting so tired of the same old activities and this would be some classroom art!

If there is anyone who is having a problem remembering to use nice words in your family, this might be a fun idea for you! One of our Family New Years Resolutions is to use more "Words that Build Up!" A Story Here is a story from the Friend Magazine, called Words That Build Up, that we read as a family on Monday night. It helped the kiddos understand that words are powerful, and we have to be mindful of what we say to each other. A Quiz The next page on that link, or right here, is a fun…

This can be used at any time of the year to display information about your students. It can be used to create a banner across the classroom, a window, etc. Be aware that it is in A4 format and print accordingly. Thanks!

Kids' Picture Books that Teach Powerful Life Lessons - from bullying to picky…